#nurture1415 – a second bite at the cherry

It’s been over a year since I joined the group of bloggers following @chocotzar‘s lead, and writing 12 things to be glad of in 2012, and 13 things to aim for in 2013. It seems even longer than that, to be honest. Lots of water under various bridges…

But first off, let’s review the 2013 stuff. How many of thesedid I manage?

Take more exercise. I have a gym membership, but carrying the card around in my wallet is not expending that many calories…

Hmmm. Not an unqualified success! But on the other hand, I am now playing hockey every Saturday, which definitely helps with the fitness. I also suspect that smacking the **** out of a little ball has restorative, therapeutic qualities. Quite apart from that, the little group of new friends I have built up has been a real plus.

Stay mentally healthy. Once you have experienced depression, any little shadowy, echo-y glimpses of a past episode can have you wondering how close you might be to the top of the slope, again. But I haven’t had one for a while, now. So let’s not talk about it! 😉

That didn’t turn out to last very long, unfortunately! And I did go back down to the bottom of the slope, last year… but here I am again, back up! And I have learned a lot more along the way…

Keep magpie-ing off my amazing educator friends online! I am sure I do have the occasional original thought, now and again… but as I say to my pupils on a daily basis “now, this is an idea I got off a friend on Twitter…”

Check 😉

Enjoy ILILC3. If you haven’t already signed up – not too late, although you have missed out on the “early bird” reduction… And if you need further tempting; I will be premiering my second “Ode to Gove” at the evening Show ‘n’ Tell…

Well, ILILC3 was amazing… and ILILC4, which I attended despite only being about 70% back out of my last depression. And it helped kick-start the full recovery. My #mfltwitterati mates, who started off as online “virtual” friends, are now a core pillar in my day-to-day life. Not sure how it all worked before, really! If indeed it did… Now I am looking forward to ILILC5, in February, at which I have finally plucked up the courage to speak. (Which reminds me: better start getting some thoughts together for my session…!)

See the new inhabitants of Sparrow Towers take full occupancy of their freshly-installed abodes:

Another partial success. One box was occupied, and we saw baby tits fledge and head off into the wide blue yonder. But the sparrows who we were really aiming for shunned our luxurious apartments, and instead, one pair built their nest at the top of the downpipe! Weirdos.

Still not sure. Was a lot of work for a limited response, to be brutally frank. But I have Brought A Teacher To Twitter! Welcome aboard, @andypshe… (And I have been to quite a few more Teachmeets and Show & Tells that other people have organised… And #TLT14! And I organised my own edition of @CampED at half-term – @CampEDSouth, a compact but bijou version of the House That Dughall, Helen and Bill Built… )

Get rid of my gradually-rusting, totally immobile scooter (12 years after leaving London and pushing it into the garage!)

Nope. And quite a few of the ones I have bought have since broken. So maybe I should put this one back in this year’s list?

Count to 10 in my head more often in Staff meetings. Without my lips moving.

Yes. Better at this. Still get quite a bit of practice 😉

Look upwards more in towns.

And sideways.

Work out how to carry on numbered lists in WordPress after inserting a photo of bird-boxes into a post.

Or just not bother with numbers at all…

Really get cracking with BYOD/T at school.

YESSS. This one is certainly on the move. Will blog about it when I have a bit more to say on the matter…

…and finally, echoing @chocotzar‘s final one for 2013: remember to smell the flowers while I can… 😉

This one is so important. I am better at it… most of the time. But it’s always ever going to be work-in-progress…

So…

What about 15 for 2015? In no particular order:

#TLT15. Can’t wait to see what @davidfawcett27 and @MissJLud pull together next year – and to see the northern contingent of T&L tweeps who head down our way, again 🙂 #TLT14 was amazing, building on the success of the initial event, with bells on! And has given rise to so much thought and action since, too, such as @martynreah‘s #teacher5aday idea…

Acting! Hadn’t done a “proper” play since Uni days, when I did loads – but was (fairly easily) persuaded into a minor-ish role in a production of Rattigan’s “Flare Path” with the Lymington Players in November. Absolutely loved it – even though it did put a bit of extra pressure on exam-marking and report-writing time, as the week of our “run” was just before that all came along… And so I will definitely be keeping an eye on what other productions are in the offing, locally, and auditioning again!

Spending time with my sister, brother-in-law and the littlies. Niecelet has just started at primary school, and Nephewling is the climbiest little boy you have ever seen… Both adorable, and I am really enjoying the “Uncle Ayix” role 🙂

Quality time with Mrs B… Vital – and yet so easy to take for granted, and to allow to slip over a busy term. Not to mention the fact that she heads out on her horse as soon as she gets a moment, in the holidays… Takes two to tango, eh?

Mountain-biking in the Forest – with my new helmet cam! (Not a GoPro, but a cheap knock-off… 😉 Looking forward to trying it out, once it gets nice and muddy! I’ll post the carnage on YouTube…

Christmas with the in-laws in Belgium. Father-in-law came off his bike the other day on one of his mad weekly rides with his cycling mates: 24 stitches in a head-wound, dislocated shoulder, 3 broken ribs and a puncture lung. And stepmother-in-law is mid-chemo after a recurrence of cancer – so TLC and family time are a crucial one, this year.

Travel! We have not been very far afield for a while (the rather paltry down-side of having in-laws in Provence and Wallonia!), but my second reaction to @philallman1 and @NuttyA10 moving out to Beijing – following closely behind “Wow! Well done you!” – was “Cool! Going to be able to go and stay with them in China!”

Painting. Losing Mary, my art mentor, has really put the brakes on my artistic endeavours, but along with a few other mutual friends, we have planned a day out painting together, to kick-start each other. We’ll see…

Cooking. MUST eat more healthily during term time – and save money, too! *Dusts off the slow cooker…* 😉

Moderate #ukedchat. It’s been on my To Do List for some time, and I have taken the intermediate step of writing my first article for the new #ukedchat magazine. Just need to get a decent topic idea together…

Get back in touch with long-lost old uni mates that I haven’t seen/emailed/phoned for ages. Had a dream about one the other day. That must be significant, no? Stop Press: re-made contact with an old school friend today, whom I have not seen for more than 20 years, today… It can be done!